Match Report:

By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com

Vancouver Whitecaps suffered a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Montreal Impact in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship on Wednesday evening.

Goals by Roberto Brown and former Whitecaps midfielder David Testo secured Montreal's second win in the three-club competition to boost their hopes of winning the tournament, which also includes Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. Defeat for Vancouver was their second in the Championship, and with two games remaining against Toronto FC early next month, the Whitecaps now have an uphill battle to be crowned the best club side in Canada for 2008.

Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made three changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Miami FC Blues in the USL First Division on Sunday. Making a return from injury on Wednesday night was Jeff Clarke following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a leg injury. He partnered captain Adrian Cann in the centre of defence, with Chris Pozniak moving into the left fullback position and Diaz Kambere having to do with a place on the substitutes' bench. Also included on the left side of midfield was Japanese star Takashi Hirano, as he replaced Tony Donatelli in the starting XI. In attack, Nicholas Addlery replaced fellow goalscorer Jason Jordan, as he partnered former Impact forward Eduardo Sebrango up front.

Impact head coach John Limniatis, meanwhile, made three changes of his own for his first-ever away match since taking over the Montreal reins from Nick De Santis on June 10. Defenders Nevio Pizzolitto and Adam Braz joined Testo in being the visitors' new inclusions from the side that started last Sunday's convincing 3-0 home win over Carolina RailHawks in USL-1. Another former Whitecaps favourite in striker Joey Gjertsen had to settle for a place on the substitutes' bench.

On a great night for soccer on the Lower Mainland, the first quarter of an hour proved relatively uneventful, as both sides looked evenly matched in the opening exchanges. The first real opportunity fell to the visitors, but Brown's free kick hit the Whitecaps six-man wall before the danger was cleared away on six minutes.

Vancouver's earliest reply came from Hirano on the left-hand side, but the winger's low cross did not find a Whitecaps teammate in the Montreal box on 17 minutes, despite the half chance causing some initial excitement from the 4,412 in attendance at Swangard Stadium.

On 22 minutes, Hirano was wayward with a first-time strike after connecting with Addlery's fine cross from right, while at the other end, Pozniak caused a bit of a scare when his clearance struck the legs of Brown and flew just wide of Jay Nolly's goal.

As the half wore on, the Impact started to work their way into the game, with Justin Moose making a fine intervention to dispossess Severino Jefferson in the Vancouver box on 27 minutes after the Brazilian forward picked up Nolly's punched clearance from Rocco Placentino's decent cross from the right.

Montreal's pressure paid dividends on the half-hour mark, as the Quebec-based club took the lead after the Whitecaps failed to deal with Patrick Leduc's corner from the left. The ball fell to Jefferson at the far post before he found Testo facing goal with a short pass. His low strike brought a great save from Nolly, but the rebound fell for goalscorer Brown, who easily converted into an empty net from close range for 1-0.

The goal brought a good spell from Montreal, with Jefferson curling a shot just over Nolly's crossbar on 36 minutes before Placentino forced a routine save from the Vancouver goalkeeper with a low shot a minute later.

Having struggled to create many chances in the opening half, Steve Kindel had a great opportunity right in front of Matt Jordan's goal on 45 minutes, but he failed to get a shot off at close range after Hirano had nodded down Addlery's cross from the right to his fellow midfielder. In time added on, a positive forward run from right fullback Lyle Martin saw him take a shot that rolled wide of the target for the last chance of the opening half.

The start of the second half saw Kambere replace Pozniak at left fullback for the home side, with Vancouver making a positive start by forcing Impact goalkeeper Matt Jordan into plucking Moose's fine cross out of the air on 47 minutes.

On 51 minutes, Addlery struck a shot high and over the target for the home side before Brown caused a melee after using his elbow in an aerial challenge with Clarke. The incident brought a yellow card for the South American forward and an angry verbal exchange between both sets of players.

Then after Gjertsen came on for Jefferson on 55 minutes, Sebrango was incredibly unlucky not to equalize, as his fine volley from the edge of the box rattled off the Montreal crossbar and away to safety.

The chance sparked Vancouver and its fans into life, with the Whitecaps coming even closer to scoring through Kindel. On 59 minutes, an exquisite chip from the midfielder brought an excellent save from Matt Jordan before the Montreal number one got his body behind a fierce strike from the midfielder three minutes later. "Maybe three weeks ago, when we were on a roll, those chances would go in the net," Kindel said in Wednesday's post-match press conference. "Right now, the momentum is the other way. You just have to fight to turn it because we've all seen during the season what we can do when we have momentum on our side."

The pressure remained relentless for the Whitecaps, and it seemed just a matter of time before Vancouver would find the back of the net. On 66 minutes, however, the Impact struck a major blow to the Whitecaps hopes of winning the competition with a fine second goal from Testo.

Leduc's simple square pass to the former Whitecaps man saw the midfielder tee up an unstoppable shot that flew past the diving Nolly and into the bottom corner of the net for 2-0. "It all happened so fast," Testo said to reporters after the game. "I just tried to keep the ball under the crossbar and keep it away from the keeper, so it was nice to see it go in."

The life that was seen in the crowd and the Whitecaps play earlier in the second half looked to have disappeared with Montreal's second goal, though Thordarson tried to restore that momentum by introducing Jason Jordan and Alfredo Valente to the game on 75 minutes for Addlery and Moose. On 77 minutes, Clarke was unfortunate not to hit the target with a far-post header from Martin Nash's corner.

For the fit-again Clarke, the focus now turns to Vancouver's upcoming games against Toronto FC. "I'm just disappointed that we didn't get a win for our home fans," he said. "We created a ton of chances, but that's the game of soccer and that's why we love it and hate it sometimes. I'm not looking too far down the road in terms of this competition. We've got a game against Toronto next Tuesday and that will be a big opportunity for us. If we get out of there with three points, then will look to do the same here on July 9."

Though the Whitecaps kept pushing forward in search of their first Canadian Championship goal in the dying stages, Montreal looked comfortable at the back, as the final whistle brought them their fourth straight win - and first on the road - under new coach Limniatis. The result also puts Montreal in the driving seat to challenge Toronto FC for the Nutrilite title, despite having one game left in the competition.


The Impact tactician felt Wednesday's result was thoroughly deserved. "I don’t want to sound cocky by any means, but it was evident tonight that the better team was the Montreal Impact from the beginning to end," he said confidently to reporters after the game. "Even though we had a little bit of pressure in the second half, I thought we very well getting forward and back. Vancouver are a fantastic team, and I have a lot of respect for them, but we showed we are back on the right track and capable of beating anyone anywhere."

Thordarson, however, felt differently about events at Swangard. "The first 20 minutes were quite equal, but after that, I felt we more or less dominated the game," he said. "In the second half, there was no question we were much better than Montreal. It's never good to say that when you've lost a game, but I thought we played well all the way through. I have a feeling at the moment, however, that things are not going our way, even though we had several good chances in the game."

The Whitecaps will now have to turn their Canadian Championship fortunes around on Canada Day (Tuesday, July 1) when they meet Toronto FC for the first time ever at BMO Field in southern Ontario. Montreal, meanwhile, must wait until Tuesday, July 22, when they head to Toronto for their final game in the competition. Beforehand, the Impact return to USL-1 action when they travel down Interstate 5 to meet Seattle Sounders in an important league clash at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington, on Saturday night.

Goal Summaries:
30' - 1-0 MTL - Roberto Brown (David Testo)
From a Montreal corner on the left, Severino Jefferson to the right of goal battled for the ball and played it back for David Testo. His hard low shot produced a superb one-handed save from Jay Nolly, but the ball sat nicely in front for Brown to put away.

66' - 2-0 MTL - David Testo (Patrick Leduc)
Patrick Leduc outside the area squared it for Testo, and the former Whitecaps player hit a 25-yard blast into the bottom left corner to put the game away.

Match Stats:
Shots: Montreal 8 - Vancouver 8
Saves: Montreal 4 - Vancouver 1
Fouls: Montreal 19 - Vancouver 11
Offsides: Montreal 1 - Vancouver 1
Corners: Montreal 3 - Vancouver 9

Cautions:
Vancouver: Adrian Cann 40'
Montreal: Leonardo Di Lorenzo 33', David Testo 38', Roberto Brown 54', Patrick Leduc 57'

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Jay Nolly; 2.Jeff Clarke, 4.Adrian Cann, 19.Chris Pozniak (28.Diaz Kambare 45'), 24.Lyle Martin; 7.Martin Nash, 8.Steve Kindel,  22.Takashi Hirano, 25.Justin Moose (9.Alfredo Valente 75'); 11.Nicholas Addlery (26.Jason Jordan 75'), 16.Eduardo Sebrango

Subs not used: 77.Srdjan Djekanovic, 14.Tony Donatelli, 15.Omar Jarun, 23.Vicente Arze

Montreal Impact
1.Matt Jordan; 5.Nevio Pizzolitto, 16.Stefano Pesoli, 24.Simon Gatti, 33.Adam Braz; 7.David Testo, 9.Rocco Placentino (14.Sita-Taty Matondo 83'), 15.Patrick Leduc, 18.Leonardo Di Lorenzo; 10 Roberto Brown (8.Gabriel Gervais 66'), 11.Severino Jefferson (17.Joey Gjertsen 55')

Subs not used: 22.Andrew Weber, 6.Alex Surprenant, 20.Mauro Biello, 26.Cedric Joqueviel